


Uncle Zack

by UnicornAffair



Series: Emma Gomez-Hart [6]
Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Parents, F/F, Trans Character, trans!Zack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-11-05 12:02:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17918438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornAffair/pseuds/UnicornAffair
Summary: When Trini gets an invitation to her 15th High School anniversary...she reminisces about how different her life used to be, and how it was changed for the better when she met her best friend that day in detention.





	Uncle Zack

**Author's Note:**

> Okay disclaimer, Zack is going to be a FTM transgendered character in this universe. <3 
> 
> I want to make a special shout out to a friend of mine, whose birthday is today! Happy birthday Billie! I hope you have an amazing day! <3 I know how important Zack is as a character to you and I hope that I do your head cannons justice from this and future fics. 
> 
> If you don't follow him on tumblr do! It's https://trans-zacktaylor.tumblr.com/
> 
> <3 <3 <3

Trini opened up her laptop only to find that she had an email sitting, waiting for her titled  _ AGHS 15th Reunion Invitation!  _ 15 years. It had been  _ that _ long since she walked the halls of her high school. Jesus. As if she needed a stark reminder to how much time had passed...to how much had  _ changed _ in all of those years. Something about just reading the title of the email shot her mind back down memory lane. 

When the Gomez family first moved to Angel Grove, Trini didn’t have many friends. She wasn’t exactly the most welcoming of people, and had grown used to being the  _ new _ kid over the years. What was the point? Even if Angel Grove was her parents forever home, it was  _ high school _ and in a small town...people had already secured friend groups and weren’t asking for a shake up. It wasn’t until Trini was sent to her first detention where she met an actual friend. Trini couldn’t even  _ remember _ what that stupid detention was for, probably something petty and small, it didn’t matter. The important bit was that she met her  _ best _ friend, it was a detention that changed two lives. 

A girl by the name of Elizabeth Taylor...but she had been calling herself Z for years. A badass Asian chick who lived in the trailer park, kept her hair short, and would always wear black hoodies. She was the first person Trini confided in that she liked girls, so did Z...it gave them something in common. Hell, when Trini had it bad for her  _ cheerleader _ biology lab partner, Z was all over trying to figure out a way to set them up. She was right  _ Kimberly Hart _ was  _ very  _ bi...she just needed the right opportunity and little nudge by a wingwoman. Trini wouldn’t be with her wife today if it weren’t for her best friend.

Once Kimberly and Trini started dating, their little duo became a  _ trio.  _ Kimberly’s impulsiveness and Z’s thrill seeking nature became a match made in heaven. Trini would never divulge this to her daughter, but in high school the three of them did play around with weed. Just to relax and chill out. Trini would  _ never _ forget the day her mother, June, became suspicious and asked her to  _ pee in a cup.  _ Ugh. Yeah. That did not end well. 

High school wasn’t perfect, is it for anyone? It didn’t matter because Trini had her two people who she loved the most. Her girlfriend, and her best friend. None of the bullshit with tests, classes, other kids...it didn’t matter. 

Only, as they approached senior year...Z started to act a bit  _ differently.  _ She became more reckless, doing stunts that scared the hell out of  _ Kimberly.  _ There was even a point where she just stopped coming to school all together. A joy ride in Kimberly’s car almost ended in the trio getting hit by a  _ train.  _ A heated Trini confronted her best friend on what the hell was going on in Z’s life. What the hell was going on? She could  _ talk _ to Trini and Kimberly about  _ anything.  _

And so she did.

That was the night Z confessed to Kimberly and Trini that she was going through some stuff, that  _ she _ felt like she was born in the wrong body...that no matter how she tried she couldn’t shake it. All the years she just thought that, maybe she felt different because she was a lesbian well...it ran it a bit deeper. It was that night Z asked them to stop calling her  _ her, _ that they’d rather be  _ he _ ,  _ him, a boy, Zack.  _ Zack was the name he chose for himself. He had been skipping school in favor of going to the library to access a computer and do his own research, to try and find other people like him...to find out what he could  _ do _ for himself.

Kimberly and Trini did research of their own, Zack didn’t have a lot of his own money...he was too afraid to go to his sick mom and tell her what was going on. She was in the dark, so Kim and Trini knew they needed to step up and be there for him during this tough time. The first thing Kimberly wanted to do was  _ style _ him properly. Black hoodies were nice and all, oh but there was so much more to mens fashion. While Trini, she wanted to be a bit more practical in her approach to this new development. She helped him get his first binder, and kicked his ass if he wore it for too long and started hurting. He just liked the way they made him feel, he could smile looking at himself in a full length mirror.

Kimberly was more helpful when it came to his... _ package _ so to say. They found a website called  _ peecock _ products and boy were they surprised to learn how  _ detailed _ their products could look. It was too many dicks for Trini personally, she wasn’t much of a help at all. Like everything else, Kimberly put it on her parents credit card and boy...Trini wished she was around the day her dad confronted her about a  _ certain  _ bill came on his statement. Apparently it went so well that Ted Hart came to the trailer park and asked if Zack needed anything from a man and not a teenage girl. With Zack’s father out of the picture, Ted really wanted to step up. Years later Kimberly and Trini learned that Teddy boy taught him some stereotypical  _ man _ essentials, how to grill, how to change a tire, and most importantly how to throw a proper punch. 

Even if it was just three people supporting him...there was an instant change in Zack’s self confidence. It wasn’t nearly close to his end goal but binders and the way he dressed made for a good start. There was one night Zack and Trini followed the Angel Grove football team, so Kimberly, to an away game. They had dinner afterward in some Reefside diner, a little dive place for milkshakes and burgers. The waitress referred to Zack as  _ sir _ and he damn well got teary eyed over it...a stranger calling him by the right pronoun...it meant the world to him.

It wasn’t until graduation, when Zack was eighteen when he finally came out to his mother about what he had been going through. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if she died and never knew her  _ son.  _ A teary night filled with hugs and comfort, never once did she say anything negative to him, she simply held him and whispered that she knew something wasn’t right...she was happy that he could come to her...for she was worried about what he was getting into during those late nights away from home. Now that he was an adult, he wanted to start going on testosterone.

Zack didn’t go to college like his best friends, but he still remained close to them. He was able to get a front desk job at the local hotel. It didn’t pay  _ much _ but for only having a high school degree it was a good start up job, it had insurance and a lot of extra benefits. While commuting from the trailer park he could start paying for his own treatment without worrying about interfering with his mother’s hospital bills. Trini remembered what it sounded like the first time she called him and realized his voice had dropped...she was so proud...and so jealous that he would never have to shave his legs again. Zack started to grow facial hair, keeping a goatee all throughout Trini and Kim’s college days just because he  _ could. _

As for Kimberly and Trini? They didn’t let their studies and their relationship keep them away from him. They were still around for every one of his big steps. Changing his birth certificate, getting his new license...one that Zack could look at every day and be amazed that this was really happening...that he felt like himself more now than  _ ever.  _ While they were with Zack’s for his highest highs….they were there for his lowest of lows...when his mother died. It was the darkest days of Zack’s life, but she died proud of her  _ son _ for all the steps he was taking and that she wanted the world for him. She set a lot of her life insurance aside so if he  _ wanted _ he could get his top surgery, something that he wishfully talked about in her presence.

He stayed at Trini and Kimberly’s off campus apartment, he lived with them once they graduated and moved into the city. Once he stopped grieving his mother, he was ready to take the plunge. Recovery was  _ long _ but he was able to rest and relax in their second bedroom. 

The friendship wasn’t one sided, he supported them as much as they supported him. He was with Kimberly when she wanted to pick out a ring for Trini. She was ready to propose, to lock her girlfriend down right after college. After bickering about who would get Zack as their best man...they decided that it was best if he just  _ officiated _ their small wedding. Trying to adopt a child as a gay couple wasn’t  _ easy _ but they had their hearts set on a girl overseas. He was with them the day Emma was brought home from the Philippines. 

Even though he eventually moved out, and Kimberly and Trini moved to the suburbs, he still remained close to them in a studio apartment, with a new job as a firefighter. Zack loved the thrill, he loved  _ helping people _ and most importantly there? He could be just one of the guys. They gave him a sense of brotherhood, a sense of belonging. After his top surgery he was  _ obsessed _ with taking shirtless pictures, proud of his scars, he loved the way his muscles looked. His arms. His abs. He wore muscle shirts and tank tops whenever he could. His  _ favorite _ being a black muscle tank with  _ pretty boy _ printed on the front.

Trini finally stepped away from her computer and headed to the living room where she knew her best friend was playing with her seven year old daughter. “Hey, did you see the email? God we’re getting old” She knew that he would have a  _ blast _ arriving to their fifteen year reunion a  _ new man.  _ They unfortunately missed out on their ten year anniversary, but Kimberly had already planned a family vacation at the Hart’s beach house and they  _ all _ had to be there.

Upon fully entering the living room, Trini was shocked to find that Zack was sitting, a hand covering his eyes...he was  _ crying.  _ A distraught Emma looked to her mama, her eyes watering up with tears of her own. “I didn’t mean to make him cry”

It was then, Trini saw a piece of paper in Zack’s other hand. A flyer for a  _ daddy daughter dance _ that Emma had brought home from school. 

“C’mere, happy tears I promise” Zack opened his arms, inviting Emma in for a big bear hug. He hadn’t cried like this in a  _ long _ time, but something about a child coming to him...wanting to be her father figure for a day...it broke him. 

“I don’t have a daddy...I have two moms...but I wanna go” She looked over to Trini, Zack’s tears had become infectious, “Is that okay?” Her voice cracked, she was so afraid that she had done something wrong. But to Emma? She didn’t know what his life was like before, what he had to go through to be the man he was today...to her he was the bestest uncle who would always take her out to ice cream, or to the zoo, or would watch her when her mommies wanted to go out on a romantic night.

“It’s more than okay sweetie” Trini stepped over to join this hug fest, resting a hand on Zack’s back to pull his attention, “Your uncle Zack can be your dad for the day” Emma didn’t once think to ask Trini’s brothers, she loved them...but she loved her uncle Zack more. 


End file.
